Holiday naysayers

About the Author

Christians in the United States have finally started fighting
back against the "Happy Holidays" movement. And about time it is;
any public displays of the religious significance of the holiday
are now so rare that when my 2-year-old daughter was asked who was
born at Christmas, the inevitable answer was "Santa!" Sadly her
logic was impeccable. There must be dozens of Santas for every
Christmas creche on display. Encouragingly, Christians are fighting
back to reclaim Christmas for Jesus - or as one sign on rural
Virginia Route 609 in Madison County aptly puts it, "Jesus is the
Reason for the Season."

It is equally heartwarming to contemplate the fact that around
the world, the celebration of Christmas is making strides. As
Christianity has declined in Europe and remains under attack by
liberals and atheists in the United States as well, in other parts
of the world the message of Christmas is being heard and
Christianity is spreading. Today, 2 billion people around the world
identify themselves as Christians, a full one-third of humanity.
(This compares to 19 percent who are Muslim.) Among Americans, 75
percent identify themselves as Christians.

But Christmas was not always observed in this country. Some of
the first colonists, the Puritans of Massachusetts, roundly
condemned the practice, considering it heathen and sacrilegious.
For 22 years in the early days of the colony, Christmas was
officially banned, - a step taken by William Bradford to contain
the rioting, drunkenness and rowdiness that accompanied the
celebrations as inherited from the Puritans' English
background.

"For preventing disorders, arising in several places within this
jurisdiction by reason of some still observing such festivals as
were superstitiously kept in other communities, to the great
dishonor of God and offense of others: it is therefore ordered by
this court and the authority thereof that whosoever shall be found
observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by
forbearing of labor, feasting, or any other way, upon any such
account as aforesaid, every such person so offending shall pay for
every such offence five shilling as a fine to the county," so reads
the records of the General Court, Massachusetts Bay Colony, May 11,
1659.

The celebration of Christmas, however, prevailed and around the
world tonight, tomorrow and in some religious communities on Jan.
6, the birth of Jesus is a cause for religious observance, family
celebrations and goodwill among strangers. Peace on Earth,
unfortunately, has been harder to come by.

In China, home to the world's fastest-growing Christian
communities, Christmas is celebrated in homes with stockings, a
tree of light decorated with lanterns and exchanges of gifts
between family members. Though the official persecution of
Christians by the Communist regime continues, there are now an
estimated 54 million Christians in China, of which 39 million are
Protestants and 14 million are Roman Catholics. In a few centuries,
Christianity could be predominantly a Chinese religion.

In Cuba, Christmas can again be celebrated, but has been allowed
only for a decade since the Cuban Revolution, dating precisely back
to the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1997. While the number of
Christians in the 11 million Cuban population is limited, the joy
and fellowship of Christmas has been warmly embraced by Cubans
whose other causes for celebrations are generally few and far
between.

And in democratic Iraq, which is a rare example of religious
tolerance in the Arab world, the celebration of Christmas and the
observance of Christian worship are now possible. The country held
its first ever official Christmas celebration this year. At the
celebration, an Interior Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim
Khalaf, remarked, "All Iraqis are Christian today!" The festivities
were announced by a giant billboard featuring Jesus.

Unfortunately, the persecution of Christians and the attack on
Christmas itself is still a reality. In most Arab countries,
celebration of Christmas, except of the most private nature, is out
of the question. In Croatia, Christmas was outlawed this year by a
cash-strapped government that in one fell swoop outlawed all
holidays and celebrations in a budget-saving measure.

And here in the United States, it takes a concerted effort by
Christians to reclaim the holiday from those who perversely
consider its "tidings of comfort and joy" to be exclusionary and
who have just about chased its observance from the public
square.

The strength of Christianity, however, is its persistence
through opposition and persecution. In that spirit, allow me to
wish my readers a "Merry Christmas!"

Helle Dale is
director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy
Studies at the Heritage Foundation.